perception
by EtherealDemon
Summary: <html><head></head>Elijah sees things quite differently as he observes the three main players close-up yet from the outside.</html>


**Disclaimer:** If I owned TVD all the male character would be bare-chested and sporting snug leather pants... which they are not. Conclusion: I own nothing.

**Summary:** Elijah sees things quite differently as he observes the three main players close-up yet from the outside.

**AN:** I had no idea where this was going until it was done. Sometimes my subconscious is very effective. I'm so happy that the wardrobe department at TVD has this new found love for men in leather pants... first we had dancing Damon in his tight black 1960's style leather pants and now we had both flashback Elijah and Klaus sporting fantastic brown and black medieval leather trousers. I wonder who's next up... Alaric? Jeremy? Tyler?

oOo

**perception**

oOo

He hears the brothers long before he and the not-yet-dead doppelgänger enter the Boardinghouse. Of course he mentions none of this to the doe-eyed beauty purposefully leading him to them. He forces himself to bite back the highly improper chuckle that threatens to spill from his lips as he watches the girl shoot the wrong brother a look of disappointment and disgust. He reminds himself that the poor thing doesn't have the enhanced hearing the three of them are privy to and that she's cursed with the Petrova blindness.

The Salvatore's remind him of himself and his brother; always misunderstood. It seems the fairer-haired half of the sibling pairs share the skill of poisoning minds. He wonders if this one is as aware of his ability as the other. The brothers are both strong in their own way one a ruthless coward; a petulant child and the other broken but undefeatable because of his intelligence and ability to love. He can see that the Gilbert girl has put the wrong label on each brother. He'd laugh, but it hits too tragically close to home.

He can see the appeal of this doppelgänger; she has that fire that Katarina also possessed. However the now undead one was all light and sweetness when he'd first met her. The beautiful girl had been pure and good, but oh-so terrified and alone in the big horrifying world. This new one has more of a ruthless streak hidden behind a mask of righteous indignation than the one that came before her did not. For Katarina it was a harsh lesson learned, much thanks to his brother, and it had taken her centuries to become that way. He'd been sure Katarina had been worth saving much like... he isn't so sure about this one.

The younger of the two doesn't surprise him by apologizing and neither does the older when he does not. He secretly admires the raven-haired boy for his foolish bravery, he has after all stabbed the baby-vamp... and _other things_. He likes him. Had the circumstances been different then he knows he would have found a way to sway the boy to join him. Alas the elder Salvatore is not up for grabs, he is the unwanted property of the newest doppelgänger. What a waste.

The insistence that pleas for forgiveness would be required for his cooperation had of course been a test. He needs to know where they all stand... as it turns out, none of them can be trusted. He wishes he could say that this surprises him, but he's not lied to himself for centuries. Why start now?

He is secretly pleased that the blue-eyed vampire, who just stormed out with eyes burning with fury, is on his side. The boy is a true asset even though he will undoubtedly try to eliminate him foolishly thinking that it will keep the brown eyed girl alive. It's a shame that he'll eventually have to kill him. He should have snatched him up and trained him once Katarina had turned and discarded him as he had contemplated upon first laying eyes on him. Oh, well... spilled milk and what not.

It's the younger of the two brothers who he finds to be the most elusive of... well all of them. The green-eyed ripper is like a badly scripted soap-opera character; behavioural inconsistencies and contradicting personality traits. Perhaps the boy has some sort of personality-disorder, that would make sense. He hadn't been impressed when he had first seen him. His complete lack of self-control and distasteful overindulgence were not; _are not_ traits he admires or even tolerates. To this day it still baffles him why Katarina foolishly got involved with the green-eyed monster.

He cocks his head imperceptibly as he listens in on what the other brother is up to. Saving the girl he doesn't love from himself; what a delightful surprise. Perhaps the boy isn't as unsalvageable as he had first thought. If he could only open the elder brothers eyes to the living doppelgänger as had been done with the undead one then he might just be able to get a new asset out of this. Almost a century and a half had gone by while he persistently sought his goal; now **that **was a trait he could use and admire... he shared it after all. Teaching him to be at the reigns of his emotions would be easy enough as soon as this doppelgänger falls from grace. They always do and this one is no different then Katarina or... they always fall from grace.

oOo

**AN:** No I didn't mean it like that; Elijah does not have a secret crush on Damon... he simply sees the similarities. Be good and review! _Please..._


End file.
